Iran Urged to Halt Trading With Iraqi Kurdistan

EghtesadOnline: Iraq has asked Iran and Turkey to close border crossings with the Iraqi Kurdistan Region, an Iraqi Foreign Ministry spokesman announced.

News ID: ۷۷۹۶۷۰

08 October 2017

Last month, the Kurdish region held a controversial referendum on whether to declare independence from Iraq, with Iraq and its neighbors denouncing the vote as illegitimate. In a statement on Friday, the Iraqi spokesman, Ahmed Mahgoub, said a formal memo has been sent to the Turkish and Iranian embassies in Baghdad, asking them to halt commercial transactions with the Kurdish region and only deal with the federal government, Turkish news agency Anadolu reported. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said on Thursday Turkey would soon close its border with northern Iraq and shut its airspace as well. Following the vote, Baghdad has moved to ban international flights into the Kurdish region and close foreign missions there. Iran closed its airspace with the region ahead of the vote at Baghdad’s request, Financial Tribune reported. According to results announced by KRG, almost 93% of registered voters cast ballots in favor of independence.